Exercise helped people with colorectal cancer avoid recurrence, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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People who had been treated for colorectal cancer and who undertook a structured exercise program had fewer recurrences than people who didn’t exercise, a new study shows. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, says the program required about five metabolic equivalents, or METs, of exercise.

Nelson: Significant brisk walking is four METs so it's a little bit more than that. Many people were able to achieve it. If you look at the five year so-called disease free survival your cancer didn't come back was 80% in the exercise group and 74% in the group that just got the education and overall survival it was also improved. 90% at five years versus 83% at five years so this exercise program that was clearly more exercised than was undertaken by folks who were recommended to do physical activity definitely seemed to be a benefit.  :33 

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.